CELTICS NOTEBOOK: Marcus Smart gets down to business in first practice

Wednesday

Jul 2, 2014 at 2:18 AMJul 2, 2014 at 2:21 AM

The Celtics' first-round draft pick plays point guard as the team opens workouts leading up to Saturday's opener in the Orlando Summer League.

Jim Fenton The Enterprise @JFenton_ent

WALTHAM - They were drafted by the Celtics last Thursday night and had an introductory press conference Monday.

Now, Marcus Smart and James Young can turn their attention to getting acclimated with life in the NBA.

The rookies are on the Celtics’ roster for the Orlando Summer League, which begins Saturday morning.

While Smart took part in the team’s first practice Tuesday morning, Young sat out after suffering a neck injury in a recent minor car accident.

“We’re still being precautionary after his car accident a couple of weeks ago,’’ said Celtics assistant coach Jay Larranaga.

Asked whether Young, the No. 17 pick, would be playing in the game in Orlando, Larranaga said: “I don’t know. I’m sure Danny (Ainge) and coach (Brad) Stevens will talk about that stuff.’’

While Young was a spectator, Smart got the chance to take the floor at the point guard spot, five days after being the No. 6 pick in the draft.

“Marcus is an enthusiastic team player,’’ said Larranaga, who will coach the Celtics in Florida. “He brought a lot of energy to this practice and anticipate him bringing energy to every practice.’’

Smart was just happy to be back playing basketball after touring a number of NBA cities in June and getting drafted last week.

“These last couple of days have been a whirlwind,’’ said Smart, who plays his first game Saturday morning against the Miami Heat. “There’s been a lot of celebration, excitement, hype, all this. But now it’s time to finally get back on the court and put the work back in. That’s what we do, put in the work.

“It felt good to finally focus on basketball and get back on the court.

“It was a little different from what I expected. But you’ve still got to put in work. The only thing (different from college) is you don’t have to go to class.’’

Larranaga leads: With the departure of Ron Adams to the Golden State Warriors last month, Larranaga will be Stevens’ lead assistant coach this season.

“I don’t see my role during the season changing much,’’ he said. “I try to contribute the best I can and I will continue to do that.’’

Larranaga will be running the summer league team for the second year in a row.

“I’m excited to coach in Orlando,’’ he said. “It’s fun to be a little more active in the practices and the games.

“You learn a lot working for coach Stevens during the year and now it’s an opportunity to kind of emulate a lot of things he does that makes him successful.’’

Roster set: The Celtics have four players from last season’s team on the summer league roster, including Kelly Olynyk, Phil Pressey, Chris Johnson and Chris Babb.

In addition to Smart and Young, the team has O.D. Anosike of Siena, Dairis Bertans of Latvia, Daniel Coursey of Mercer, Edwin Jackson of France, Mike Moser of Oregon, Colton Iverson (a second-round pick in 2013) and Devin Oliver of Dayton.

Jim Fenton may be reached at jfenton@enterprisenews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JFenton_ent.